Understanding Your UMS A Level Grade Results Calculation

A Guide To Understanding How Your AQA A Level Grade Results Are Calculated

This guide will help you understand how your AQA A Level grade results are calculated. I keep getting questions on whether peoples grades are right or wrong or how close they are to the next grade, even whether they should have it remarked.

I thought this would help people understand in simple terms exactly how their scores are worked out. This pretty much applies to other subjects too for AQA but I will focus on Psychology AS/A2 – The concept is the same for other subjects too however.

Raw Marks And UMS Marks – Know The Difference

In your exam you sat a paper. That paper is out of a certain amount of raw marks. For Psychology Psya1 the maximum marks available is 72 marks. The grade boundaries are set by a committee at AQA who decide where the cut-off for each grade will be. So for example they may decide the following grades mark values:

(and this is just an example and not real mark allocation):

A Grade = 65 marks out of 72

B Grade = 59 marks out of 72

C Grade = 45 marks out of 72

D Grade = 35 marks out of 72

E Grade = 30 marks out of 72

Your raw marks are then converted into something called UMS or uniform mark scale. You can find more information on this here:

This basically means your raw marks are given a scaled score out of 100. You can think about it as a percentage in some way if it makes it easier to understand although this wont be a true representation of your actual raw mark. 1 raw mark may actually be worth 2 or 3 UMS – it just depends on what the AQA committee decides as one paper can be more difficult than another (even if its the same unit itself taken at different exam windows).

So two students can sit the same unit but different papers (one year after the other) and if they scored the exact same raw marks (for example both score 65 marks) – one paper is likely to be more difficult than the other in some way and its possible the student with the harder paper may reach the A grade threshold while the other student sitting the easier paper may just miss it scoring a B grade and just under (based on our hypothetical example above). This is because the UMS for that paper is given a weaker value than the harder value.

Raw Marks Differ In Value Between Different Exam Windows – It’s Scaled Differently Each Time (usually not by much)

It’s possible to get 100 ums in your exam (the highest you can get) but actually have dropped some marks in the exam too. As the marking is scaled there tends to be some leeway at the top end of marks as 1 mark is usually worth between 1-3 UMS depending on the paper difficulty. Therefore scoring 72 out of 72 in the exam would actually give you 144 UMS (if a single raw mark was worth 2 UMS for example). But the result can’t be more than 100 UMS as its capped at that level.

So you can actually get perhaps 68/72 but still come out with 100 ums points in the exam which is the maximum UMS to achieve in Psya1 Psychology for example. Your results slip will not tell you your raw marks usually but simply the UMS itself so you wont know what your raw marks are without getting your paper back and checking the mark allocation.

You can however usually “reverse engineer” your UMS into raw marks using this tool here to give you a better idea on your A Level raw mark before its turned into UMS:

You put your exam unit in there (any subject), choose the level (A Level) and then input your raw mark. This is then given a UMS. If you tinker with it you can get an idea of what your raw mark might be once you put the correct amount of raw marks to match your UMS score- this will tell you your actual grading within the exam itself.

Heres a couple of tables from the AQA website too for AS and A2. It’s just a general table to help you grasp the concept better:

This is ultimately the best way to understand how your A level grade results are calculated before they are given to you. You can then understand better how close you may have been to the next grade above. If you only just miss the cut-off then yes a remark may be in your interest. If however its a big difference it may not be worthwhile but ultimately its your choice.

How To Get An A* Grade For A Level Psychology AQA A

To score an A* grade for A level Psychology (AQA A) you must score at least 320 UMS out of 400 with an average of 90% at A2. So in basic terms you need to score 90% over Psya3 and Psya4.

You can score 85 UMS for Psya3 but then score 95 UMS in Psya4 as that would average out at 90% over the A2 units. Thats provided you scored enough at AS level Psychology to contribute to you reaching the 320 UMS mark.

Since 2012 I've helped literally thousands of students achieve some amazing grades for A level Psychology and get into their chosen universities - Even schools across the UK now use my resources. If you're studying Psychology why not Follow me on Twitter, LIKE my Facebook page or subscribe to my YouTube channel and get tons of free resources and updates and see just how well you can do too.

17 Comments

Georgia Trainis
on 18/08/2014 at 9:55 pm

Having just got my psychology a level grades, i got 316 UMS, and 320 are needed for an A grade.
In Unit 2 (my retake) I got 62 (a C)
In Unit 3 I got 100
In unit 4 I got 72 ( a B)
Is it worth me getting papers remarked to get the A?
How many raw marks is it, I can’t convert it
And if so should I choose one to get remarked (either unit 2 or 4) or is it worth getting both remarked?

If you got 334 and didnt get an A* – that means you didn’t average 90% over the A2 units (which is the only way to get an A*).

You have to average 90% over Psya3 and Psya4 and hit at least 320ums to get an A* Grade. Its a bit daft but its quite possible for people to have scored less than you UMS wise I think and still get an A* if they do well at A2.

Grade A* is awarded to candidates who have gained at least 320 uniform marks on the A Level as a whole and a total of at least 180 uniform marks on the A2 units.

That is basically as I have said – You need to hit 320 UMS with an average of 90% over the A2 units. If im wrong please feel free to correct me however if theres updated information out there. I’m going by what AQA have currently available.
Saj

Not if you change the wording slightly. You have to remember many students have bought my books so I always advise never to copy them word for word but use them as a basis to form your own essays using your own words. Many students simply reworded my essays and sourced the information from them for the last set of exams and I never had any say they had a problem!

I gained 315 UMS overall at A level, meaning I needed 5 more to reach an A grade. At AS, I gained 82 (psya2) and 88 (psya1), and at A level I gained 77(psya3) and 68 (psya4) UMS points in each exam. Is it worth me bothering to get one of my A2 (or both) papers remarked to try and have a chance of obtaining an A grade, or is it too much of a risk to lose out on my B grade if the marks go down. I have no idea of what to do for the best, and I feel as though the grade doesn’t quite reflect the marks I was obtaining throughout the year or the effort and hard work I put in. I should also mention that in psya4 I missed the very back page and instantly dropped 12 marks which may be one of the main reasons as to why I just missed out on the A grade.

Hi Lauraine,
If you scored 315UMS then its likely you missed out by literally 3-4 marks in total at most as 1 mark is usually 1.5 ums approx. I would maybe consider getting your exam papers back and examining them and then look at the ones you think may be able to squeeze these marks back. Alternatively if you have got into your chosen university then I wouldn’t worry too much. Ultimately you scored a very high B and even getting a remark would need it to drop significantly to go down to a C grade.
Hope this helps and congrats on a fantastic grade.
-Saj

Hi Saj
I’m not really sure if I should send this off for a remark. I have gotten into my University place .I’ve got 279 UMS overall C and I know to get a B it is 280UMS. I also dont think the grade I got reflects my performance throughout the year.This is also psychology A.
In Unit 1 I got 78[B]
In Unit 2 I got 74[B]
In Unit 3 I got 72 [B]
In unit 4 I got 55 [D]
Is it worth paper getting remarked to get the overall B?
I Would not mind sending it off for remark but do you think there’s a chance it can drop a whole grade.
If so how many marks would I have to lose for that to happen
Thank you

Hi Matt – You are literally 1 UMS away which is less than a single mark. I would say it is worth getting it remarked if it really bugs you. I would try and figure out which paper would be the best to get remarked – I don’t think you can drop a whole grade as you are at the top end of the grade anyway. To drop a grade you would literally have to drop a significant amount of marks (down to 240 UMS). Thats about 39 UMS which is over 15 marks approximately.
Hope this helps!
Saj

Thanks , I think Im going to put it in for a remark .
Do you think it would best to get the Unit 4 paper remarked as I got a D in it compared to the Unit 3 which I already have B in.
Thank you very much.